Trick shot gun



y 7, 1963 R. MQICROSBY ETAL 3,088,451

TRICK snow GUN Filed Feb. 1, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I ll lllI-lll INVENTORJI 1641 44. cease) May 7, 1963 R. M. CROSBY ETAL TRICK SHOT GUN FiledFeb. 1, 1961 United States Patent Ofifiee 3,088,451 TRICK SHGT GUN RalphM. Crosby and Ahdenoor Kander, Los Angeles,

and Robert .1. Mortonson, Los Alarnitos, Califi, assignors to Ideal ToyCorporation, Hollis, N.Y.

Filed Feb. 1, 1961, Ser. No. 86,355 Claims. ((11. 124-27) This inventionrelates to a toy gun and more particularly to a spring operated dartshooting gun.

The concept of this invention features the use of a novel arrangement ofdarts whereby an over the shoulder trick shot is facilitated.

When attempting to aim a gun or direct a projectile at a target behindthe shooters head, it is generally necessary to employ a mirror ormirrored surface. Since heretofore the mirror had to be supported by onehand of the shooter, only the other hand was available for aiming andholding the gun on the target, which is quite different. It is thereforean object of the invention to provide means for facilitating the aimingand leveling of a gun so as to ensure better accomplishment of trickshots.

The present invention resides in a toy gun which can be used forshooting darts or like projectiles which are generally of a harmlessnature through the use of a front hand grip provided with a trigger foractuating the firing mechanism of the gun while alternatively a rearhand grip which has another trigger associated therewith which can beused for firing the gun during trick shots.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a novelfiring train for use in actuating the firing lever of the gun wherebyeither of two triggers can be alternatively used for actuating thefiring lever for releasing the firing spring.

An important feature of the invention resides in the novel breechconfiguration for a gun wherein a shoulder rest is provided betweenfront and rear hand grips.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a toy gun whichmay be manufactured out of various readily available materials such asany of the commercially available synthetic plastic resins, whichemploys parts which can be assembled in mass production with greatfacility, which is inexpensive to manufacture thereby permitting widedistribution of a highly entertaining toy gun for children at arelatively low cost, and which is simple in construction andsubstantially fool-proof in operation.

A further feature of the invention is the provision of a novel gun-sightfor use in combination with the other features of this toy gun which isequipped with a mirrored surface and which sight has means provided forforming cross hairs in conjunction with the mirrored surface so that thetarget can be easily sighted and aligned in the sight.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of theinvention, which will become apparent as the following descriptionproceeds, are attained by this toy gun, a preferred embodiment of whichhas been illustrated in the accompanying drawing, by which way ofexample only, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the toy gun comprising the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the toy gun;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the gun;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the firing train .employed in thisinvention;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of the toy gun illustrating thefiring mechanism in a cocked position;

FIG. 6 is a partial sectional detailed view of the gun illustrating thefiring mechanism just after the trigger has been actuated.

3,fi88,45l Patented May 7, 1963 With continuing reference to theaccompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate similarparts throughout the various views, reference numeral 10 generallydesignates the toy gun comprising the present invention which includes abarrel 12 and a breech portion 14. Because of the construction of thegun, no separate stock need be provided, the breech portion beingelongated and extending between a forwardly arranged firing mechanism16, a front hand grip 18, and a rear hand grip 20. Further, there areprovided front and rear sights 22 and 24, as well as a shoulder rest 25disposed between the front hand grip 18 and the rear hand grip 20.

The toy gun is adapted to shoot darts 28. Of course, other suitableprojectiles may be employed but suction cup tipped darts are quiteharmless and therefore very satisfactory for use in a childrens toy andin the present toy gun 10.

The toy gun 10 is adapted to project the darts 28 against any suitabletarget with the shooter facing the target. Alternatively, the toy gun 10can be used for trick shots whereby the weapon may be fired over theshoulder of the shooter with the shooter facing away from the target.This is accomplished by employing the sight 24 which has a mirroredsurface 26 for enabling the shooter to view the target therein.

The barrel and the breech 14 may be integrally molded with each other ifdesired or may be made separately and secured together by any suitablemeans. In the embodiment shown, the breech 14 and barrel 12 are moldedintegrally with each other but in separate halves 30, 32 which are thenjoined in any suitable manner such as by bonding, or by fastening usingpins, bolts, or the like. The barrel 12 and the breech 14 can bemanufactured out of various readily available materials such as metal,or synthetic plastic resins. Preferably, as in the embodiment shown, thetwo halves 30 and 32 of the combined breech 14 and barrel 12 as areseparately molded and the front hand grip 18 and rear hand grip 20 arelikewise integrally molded with the breech portion 14 in separate halfportions.

The barrel 12 and firing mechanism 16 is preferably constructed inaccordance with the patent to Albert M. Steiner, Patent No. 2,888,004,issued on May 26, 1959, for Toy Dart Gun. The barrel 12 has a boreprovided with lands 36 and 38. The bore 34 forms a smooth surfacedefined by the lands 36 and 38 for guiding and confining coil spring 40of the firing mechanism.

One end 41 of the spring 40 is connected to a rod 42 of a firing lever44 which is pivotally mounted by a pin 46 within the breech portion 14.The firing lever 44 is of a generally 2 shaped construction. The end 48of the firing lever 44 has a detent depending therefrom. The other endof the firing lever 44 is configurated to form a catch 52 provided witha hook 54. The pin 46 permits the hook 54 to pivot into and out of thebore 34, a suitable slot 56 being provided in the breech portion 14 forallowing this pivoting action. The hook portion 54 is adapted to engagea collar 58 of a projectile 60 preferably in the form of a dart havingan elongated shaft 62 terminating in a suction cup 64. A plurality ofradial fins 66 project angularly from the shaft 62. Grooves are providedin the barrel, for receiving these fins 66 in the manner defined in theSteiner Patent No. 2,888,004 so as to permit the dart 60 to snugly fittherein without causing friction to retard the movement of the dart.'Ihe dart is provided with a portion of enlarged cross sectional areaforming a shoulder 72.

The end 43 of the spring 40 engages the rearmost portion 68 of the dart60, fitting thereover and abutting the shoulder 70.

The other end 41 of the spring 40 may be force fitted 3 on theprojecting finger 42 and abuts against the center portion 74 of the Zshaped firing lever 44, or the end 41 of the spring may be secured inany suitable manner as desired.

The firing lever 44 is moved into a cocked position by positioning thedart 60 in the barrel 12 and after engaging the end 68 thereof in thespring 40, pressing back on the spring will cause the firing lever 44 toassume a horizontal position and the collar 58 will ride over thesurface 78 of the hook 56 until the hook engages the collar 58 to holdit in the position as is shown in FIG. 5.

The pin 46 is held in its desired position by means of mounting members80 of any suitable configuration. Thus, the firing lever 44 is free topivot about pin 46 as an axis.

A sear mechanism 82 is provided for actuating the firing lever 44. Thescar mechanism is pivoted by means of a pin 84 which is secured by anysuitable type of mounting member 86 within the breech portion 14. Thesear includes a generally L shaped arm 88 as well as an op posed taperedarm 90.

A semi-cylindrical projection 92 is provided with an arcuate surface 94which may ride on the bottom inner surface 100 of the breech portion 14.Angularly offset from the pin 84 and the semi-cylindrical projection 92is another upwardly extending projection 102. Extending outwardly fromthe lower portion of the L shaped arm 88 is a substantially horizontallydisposed projection 3 which is adapted to engage detent 50 so thatpivoting ac tion of the sear mechanism 82 will cause operation of thefiring liner 44. The front hand grip 18 has a trigger finger opening 110therein. A trigger 112 has a trigger portion 114 in alignment with thetrigger finger opening 110 and adapted to be engaged by the triggerfinger of the shooter which is inserted through the trigger opening 110.The trigger 112 is further provided with an end 116 having a contactsurface 118 engageable with the tapered surface 120 of the searmechanism 82. The trigger 112 is pivotally mounted in breech portion 14by means of a pin 122.

The hand grip 18 may be of any desired shape but it has been found forconvenience and for better grasping the gun 10 in the positioncomfortable and effective for most shooters that the hand grip 18 have arear surface 128 which extends downwardly and forwardly so that thefront hand grip 18 is of a generally tapered shape. Finger holes 130 and132 are provided in the front hand grip for the second and third fingersof a shooters hand with the trigger finger being comfortably engageablewith the trigger 112.

The rear hand grip has a front surface 136 which extends downwardly andforwardly and has a rear surface 138 configurated to form fingerrecesses 140, 142 and 144 for the second, third, and fourth fingers ofthe hand of the shooter, and is provided with a trigger fingerhole oropening 146 in an enlarged upper portion 148 of the rear hand grip 20.

Pivoted by means of a pin 150 is another trigger 152 having a fingerengaging portion 154 which extends into alignment with the triggerfinger opening 146. The trigger 152 has a lever portion 156 to which oneend 158 of a rod or cable 160 is attached. The other end 162 of the rod160 is attached to the projection 102. Hence, actuation of either of thetriggers 112 or 152 will cause a pivotal action of the sear mechanism 82to pivot the firing lever 44.

The gun 10 is provided with a front sight 22 which includes a frontsight piece 170 held in place between two sight holders 172 and 174 bymeans of a pin 176 or the like. Alternatively, the sight can .be formedout of a single piece of material or may be integrally formed with thebreech 14 during the molding thereof.

The rear sight 24 has a rear sight block 178 into which a rear sightpiece 180 is embedded. The sight block 178 may be molded from asynthetic plastic material or may be formed of other material as may bedesired and the rear sight piece 180 is provided with the mirroredsurface 26. Of course, the rear sight piece 180 can be constructed froma piece of metal. The rear sight piece 180 is preferably provided withslots 182', 184, 186 and 188 therein which are arranged in a cruciformshape to form cross hairs. Alternatively, cross hairs can be painted, orotherwise applied on the mirrored surface 26.

It has been found advantageous to utilize slots 182, 184, 186 and 188since by using the slots, the front sight piece 170 can be aligned inthe slots with the target, thus facilitating the aiming of the gun aboveand beyond the sight advantages produced by using the front sight 170only.

The shoulder rest 25 may be provided with a plurality of ribs 196 whichare preferably integrally molded with the breech portion 14.Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, in lieu of ribs, grooves 198 may beformed in the shoulder rest 25. The ribs or grooves form a roughenedsurface which not only enables the gun to be better positioned andsupported on the shoulder, but also adds to the pleasing appearance andattractive configuration of the toy gun 10.

In use, a projectile in the form of a dart 28 is inserted into thebarrel 12 until the end 68 engages the spring 40 with the collar 58riding over the cam surface 78 and looking behind the hook 54. The gunis then cocked. For direct firing, the gun can be grasped with two handsin the manner of a sub-machine gun or else may be fired utilizing therear hand grip 20 in position against the shoulder. However, for betteralignment and aiming of the gun, the gun may be grasped with both handsand the front sight 22 aligned with the rear sight 24 by peering throughthe slots 182, 184, 186 and 188. Then, the trigger 112 is pulled backupon pivoting the trigger and causing the cam surface 118 to depress onthe tapered surface pivoting the sear mechanism 82' which causes thehorizontally projecting portion 103 thereof to em gage the projection 50pivoting the firing lever 44 about the pin 56 disengaging the hook 54and releasing the dart collar 58 whereby the spring 40 will push thedart outwardly of the barrel.

The toy gun is especially adapted for use in trick shots such as an overthe shoulder shot. In this type of trick shot, the shooter will positionthe gun with the shoulder rest 26, lying on the shoulder of the shooter.Then utilizing the mirrored surface 26, the front sight 22 and thetarget are aligned in the cross hairs which are either formed by theslots 182, 184, 186 and 188 or alternatively painted or applied on themirrored surface 26, then the trigger is depressed, causing actuation ofthe sear mechanism 82 to release the dart.

The gun 10 may, of course, be made in any shape or size as may bedesired, the configuration shown being that of a modernistic type toymost appealing to youngsters. The barrel 12 may be provided with animitation type silencer cap 200 for a realistic touch. The halves of thegun may be secured together such as by pins 202 or may be adhesivelybonded or otherwise bolted or secured together.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in theforegoing disclosure and in some instances some features of theinvention will be employed without a corresponding use of otherfeatures. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims beconstrued broadly and in a manner consistent with the spirit of theinvention herein.

What we claim is:

1. A gun comprising an elongated breech portion, a barrel extendingforwardly of said breech portion, a firing mechanism in the front end ofsaid breech portion, a front hand grip depending from said breechportion, a rear hand grip depending from said breech portion spacedrearwardly from said front hand grip, said breech portion including ashoulder rest between said front hand grip and said rear hand grip, andtrigger means for actuating said firing mechanism mounted in said fronthand grip and said rear hand grip and being connected to said firingmechanism, said firing mechanism including a firing lever pivoted insaid breech portion, a sear mechanism for actuating said firing lever,said sear mechanism being pivoted in said breech portion, said triggermeans including a front trigger pivotally mounted and engageable withsaid sear mechanism for moving said sear mechanism to actuate saidfiring lever, said front trigger being associated with said front handgrip, a rear trigger pivoted in association with said rear hand grip,and means connecting said rear trigger with said sear mechanism forseparately actuating said firing lever, a sight on said breech portionrearwardly of said rear hand grip, said sight having a mirrored frontsurface and formed with a plurality of slots therein forming crosshairs, and a second sight on the front end of said gun for alignmentwith said slots so that said second sight can be viewed through saidslots and can be centered in the cross hairs formed by said slots byviewing said mirrored surf-ace.

2. A gun comprising an elongated breech portion, a barrel extendingforwardly of said breech portion, a firing mechanism in the front end ofsaid breech portion, a front hand grip depending from said breechportion, a rear hand grip depending from said breech portion spacedrearwardly from said front hand grip, said breech portion including ashoulder rest between said front hand grip and said rear hand grip, andtrigger means for actuating said firing mechanism mounted in said fronthand grip and said rear hand grip and being connected to said firingmechanism, said firing mechanism including a firing lever pivoted insaid breech portion, a sear mechanism for actuating said firing lever,said sear mechanism being pivoted in said breech portion, said triggermeans including a front trigger pivotally mounted and engageable withsaid sear mechanism for moving said sear mechanism to actuate saidfiring lever, said front trigger being associated with said front handgrip, a rear trigger pivoted in association with said rear hand grip,and means connecting said rear trigger with said sear mechanism forseparately actuating said firing lever, a sight on said breech portionrearwardly of said rear hand grip, said sight having a mirrored frontsurface, said sight being provided with a plurality of slots thereinforming cross hairs, and a second sight on the front of said breechportion for alignment with said slots so that said barrel can be alignedwith a target with said second sight and the target being viewed throughsaid slots and said target and said second sight being centered in saidcross hairs when viewing said mirrored surface, said shoulder rest beignprovided with a roughened surface for frictionally retaining said gun ona shoulder of the user.

3. A gun comprising an elongated breech portion, a barrel extendingforwardly of said breech portion, a firing mechanism in said breechportion, front and rear hand grips depending from said breech portion,trigger means for actuating said firing mechanism associated with atleast one of said hand grips, a rear sight on the rear part of saidbreech portion, said rear sight having a mirrored front surface, saidrear sight having slots therein forming cross hairs, and a front sighton the front end of said gun for alignment with said slots so that saidfront sight can be viewed through said slots and can be centered in thecross hairs formed by said slots by viewing said mirrored surface.

4. A gun comprising an elongated breech portion, a barrel extendingforwardly of said breech portion, a firing mechanism in the front end ofsaid breech portion, a front hand grip depending from said breechportion, a rear hand grip depending from said breech portion spacedrearwardly from said front hand grip, said breech portion including ashoulder rest between said front hand grip and said rear hand grip, andtrigger means for actuating said firing mechanism mounted in said fronthand grip and said rear hand grip and being connected to said firingmechanism, said firing mechanism including a firing lever pivoted insaid breech portion, a scar mechanism for actuating said firing lever,said sear mechanism being pivoted in said breech portion, said triggermeans including a front trigger pivotally mounted and engageable withsaid sear mechanism for moving said sear mechanism to actuate saidfiring lever, said front trigger being associated with said front handgrip, a rear trigger pivoted in association with said rear hand grip,and means connecting said rear trigger with said sear mechanism forseparately actuating said firing lever, a sight on said breech portionrearwardly of said rear hand grip, said sight having a mirrored frontsurface, said sight being provided with a plurality of slots thereinforming cross hairs, and a second sight on the front of said breechportion for alignment with said slots so that said barrel can be alignedwith a target with said second sight and the target being viewed throughsaid slots and said target and said second sight being centered in saidcross hairs when viewing said mirrored surface.

5. A toy gun comprising an elongated breech portion, a barrel extendingforwardly of said breech portion, a firing mechanism in said gun, a handgrip at the rear of said gun depending from said breech portion forsupporting the gun when rested on the users shoulder and pointedrearwardly, trigger means within said hand grip, a rear sight on therear part of said breech portion, said sight having a mirrored frontsurface, said rear sight having slots formed therein forming crosshairs, and a front sight on the front end of said gun for alignment withsaid slots so that said front sight can be viewed through said slots andcan be centered on the cross hairs found by said slots by viewing saidmirrored surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,386,247 Fordyce Aug. 2, 1921 2,723,491 Hersey Nov. 15, 1955 2,888,004Steiner May 26, 1959

5. A TOY GUN COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BREECH PORTION, A BARREL EXTENDINGFORWARDLY OF SAID BREECH PORTION, A FIRING MECHANISM IN SAID GUN, A HANDGRIP AT THE REAR OF SAID GUN DEPENDING FROM SAID BREECH PORTION FORSUPPORTING THE GUN WHEN RESTED ON THE USER''S SHOULDER AND POINTEDREARWARDLY, TRIGGER MEANS WITHIN SAID HAND GRIP, A REAR SIGHT ON THEREAR PART OF SAID BREECH PORTION, SAID SIGHT HAVING A MIRRORED FRONTSURFACE, SAID REAR SIGHT HAVING SLOTS FORMED THEREIN FORMING CROSSHAIRS, AND A FRONT SIGHT ON THE FRONT END OF SAID GUN FOR ALIGNMENT WITHSAID SLOTS SO THAT SAID FRONT SIGHT CAN BE VIEWED THROUGH SAID SLOTS ANDCAN BE CENTRED ON THE CROSS HAIRS FOUND BY SAID SLOTS BY VIEWING SAIDMIRRORED SURFACE.